Based in Liverpool, Frankie Goes to Hollywood started to form in 1980, although it wasn't until 1983 that the line comprising ex-Big in Japan vocalist Holly Johnson, dancer Paul Rutherford, guitarist Brian Nash, bass player Mark O'Toole and drummer Peter Gill came together.
The band appeared on the television program The Tube with a rough version of the video for "Relax" filmed at Liverpool's State Ballroom. The appearance attracted attention from several record labels as well as (eventually) record producer Trevor Horn.
Trevor Horn contacted the band after hearing them on Radio 1 and signed them to his new record label, Zang Tuum Tumb. Late in 1983, their debut single was released, 'Relax' was a superb dance track with a lyric that led to a BBC radio and television ban in Britain (thank God for the Beeb!!). The video was banned by British TV and a tamer version was shot featuring lots of lasers which were ‘the' thing at that time. Paradoxically, the censorship produced even greater public interest in the single which topped the UK charts for five weeks, selling over five million copies in the process.
The promotion behind Frankie, engineered by former music journalist Paul Morley, was massive, radical and intricate, utilizing marketing techniques such as single word slogans and the production of T-shirts that offered the enigmatic message 'Frankie Says...' which eventually appeared across the country. To this day, these T-shirts still appear whenever the 1980's pop scene is mentioned and are probably one of the things most people of that era can remember - whether they were a fan or not. Morley maximised the group's contrasting images of the Liverpool ‘lads' coupled with the unashamed homosexuality of Holly and Paul which ultimately added to their sensationalism, while also providing them with a distinctive identity far removed from the squeaky clean image of bands of the time.
Frankie's second single, "Two Tribes" was inspired by the movie "Mad Max 2" and the recent Falklands war. Released in June of 1984, this was an epic production built round a throbbing bass riff. The single entered the charts at number one and went gold in seven days. "Two Tribes" stayed at number one for nine weeks and would eventually sell over three million copies. While it was on the top of the charts, "Relax" went back up the charts, peaking at number two. Like all of Frankie's singles, the record was available in various formats with superb packaging and inspired artwork.
By now the pressure to produce an album and capitalise on the media frenzy in time for the Christmas market was immense. The result was "Welcome To The Pleasure Dome", a double album with a number of cover versions including Bruce Springsteen 's 'Born To Run', Dionne Warwick 's 'Do You Know The Way To San Jose?' and Gerry And The Pacemakers' 'Ferry Across The Mersey'. Like all Frankie recordings, the sound was epic and the album was a massive hit. I for one remember rushing to Woolworths on the first day of its release to buy a copy. Now I'm fairly sure this was around the time when most albums cost around £5 or £6 and I seem to think Pleasuredome set me back about £15!
Frankie's first year ended with a change in tempo from the first two singles, with the ballad 'The Power Of Love'. This of course was another huge production masterpiece. The video however was not, as the band were on tour in America a ‘quicky' video was made without them even appearing in it! Having said that, it still went to number one.
The following year when saw their fourth single being released 'Welcome To The Pleasure Dome'. This had started life as a sub 4 minute demo originally recorded for Radio 1 and ended up being a 20 minute album track. So sure were ZTT that it would be yet another number 1 record that they had flyers printed proclaiming it to be so. Oops, even though the video was banned (good old Aunty Beeb) the single only reached number 2 in the charts.
The first single from their second album was "Rage Hard". The title was borrowed from a Dylan Thomas poem and it peaked at number four in September 1986. By now even the die hard fans could see the vibrancy of the band had gone, as well as the marketing budget! Although the multiple remixes where still in evidence, the sparkle had gone.
It was followed by the release of their second album "Liverpool" , which reached number 5. This album was more of a rock album than the pop of Pleasuredome, it lacked the catchy tunes and the pure glamour of the first album. Having said that, in my opinion, lyrically it is stronger and as an album it's probably better than Pleasuredome. Here's the test, play Pleasuredome at full volume without skipping San Jose and Happy Hi.
The second single from this album was "Warriors of the Wasteland" and although being an absolutely superb song it only just scraped in to the top 20. The video was animated and by now it was obvious all was not well, the press could smell blood.
Early 1987 brought a European tour and their third and final single "Watching the Wildlife" which failed to get in to the top 30.
By April it was all over, the tour finished and Holly quit.
